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Ellen Goodman is just reporting what I said three years ago

There is a dearth of women bloggers who discuss politics, economics, academe, etc. That's one of the reasons I started setting up group links for women in my left hand column. But then women began running away with the stats--gossip, children, decorating, kitchens, memes, book reviews, crafts, religion and so forth. Now about half of all blogs are written by women. They are great blogs, but the men are trampling us when it comes to having any influence in the blogsphere.

The New Republic's Jonathan Chait recently called the netroots "the most significant mass movement in US politics since the rise of the Christian right." In fact, they've amplified the antiwar, anti-Bush views, become an alternative fund-raising operation, and linked cyberliberals across the country. . . Nevertheless, there is another, less flattering way in which broadband has followed broadcast and the liberal political bloggers mimic the conservative talk-show hosts. The chief messengers are overwhelmingly men -- white men, even angry white men. . . Only 7% of the influential blogs are written by women.

Ellen, if you'd been reading me instead of the Daily Kook, you could have sounded this alarm much sooner.

You could have started by reading the writing credits and articles about start-ups in Wired where all things e- appear. WSJ reported in June "all things digital" featuring five movers and shakers. One was a woman--she has a gossip site (actually she's an executive of Time, Inc., but still, gossip?). Brad and Angelina can pull in 17.5 million page views, and I'm betting on the gender of the readers.

The digital network world is about 99% mortared with testosterone, and that includes influential blogs--you must have really stretched it to find 7%. But you probably weren't reading blogs by women, and especially not a conservative blog. And we all started on level ground this time. Women could have written about topics other than "my mean boss," diaper brands, American Idol and shoes, but they write about what they talk about after work and when the kids have gone to bed, and that ain't politics. Some of the "mommy blogs" (are there really 11 million?) have the best writing you'll ever read--great recipes, too--but other than American Daughter, Amy Ridenour, Baldilocks, Neo-Neocon or women who already were writing professionally like Joanne Jacobs, Michelle Malkin and Jane Galt, no candidate will even give them a glance.

Read Ellen Goodman in the Boston Globe leftist to her tippy toes, but right about this--there is no diversity in the progressive/leftist blogosphere.